Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The distribution of exchequer funding allocations as per the 2017 Revised Estimates Volume for each Office and Agency under the aegis of my Department and as provided through my Department’s Vote is set out in the table.  

The distribution of the 2018 allocations will be determined though the 2018 Revised Estimates Volume (REV) process which will be conducted in the weeks ahead. It is expected that finalisation and publication of the 2018 REV allocations will be made in December 2017.

The Deputy should note that the funding provision to Enterprise Ireland covers two subheads on my Department’s Vote, Subheads A7 and B4, which span general supports to indigenous firms and for research and development/innovation supports. The table shows the combined allocations of the two subheads.

The table above does not capture other Exchequer funding being provided to Enterprise Ireland in 2017 from the Votes of the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and the Department of Communication, Climate Action and Environment.

Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland are also provided with funding from the National Training Fund (NTF).

The operations of a number of the enterprise agencies are also supported through the generation, retention and use of Agency Own Resource Income, which is subject to annual sanction by the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform. The Agencies concerned are Enterprise Ireland, IDA Ireland, National Standards Authority of Ireland and the Health and Safety Authority.

The operations of the Personal Injuries Assessment Board (PIAB) is essentially self-financing from the fee generation received from personal injury claims, typically in the region of €12 million per annum. The exchequer provision as outlined in the table above covers pensions requirements.

The operations of the Irish Auditing and Accounting Supervisory Authority and the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission are part-funded through fees levied on certain regulated entities.

The funding provision to Inter-Trade Ireland is provided on a North-South basis and annual allocations are finalised in conjunction with the Northern Administration.

The Department also provides funding annually to the 31 Local Enterprise Offices (LEOs) through Subhead A8 of my Department’s Vote. Working closely through the Local Authority system, the LEOs support the micro-enterprise sector in the start-up and expansion phases and stimulate enterprise potential at local level. The 2017 allocation to the LEOs through my Department’s Vote totals €32.93 million broken down between €22.5 million in Capital and €10.431 million in Non-Pay monies. The LEOs are also supported through funding provided via the Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government Vote.

Responsibility relating to the Low Pay Commission transferred to my colleague, the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection in September 2017.